The Coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte

With the passage of the motion to institute a hereditary government through the senate, the empire became a legal reality. A little under half the electorate actually turned out for this referendum. Over three and a half million voted s and about 25 hundred voted no. This was not a return to the old regime, but the birth of something new. Not unlike napoleon himself, bonaparte chose his title quite deliberately. He was emperor of the french, not emperor of france.